Having learners visualize a goal or a possible future can help them set a direction, so they can take the first step of that journey. Tate implies that visualizing something makes it so, but the research does not support that conclusion. The example of athlete’s visualizing a future performance does not prove mind over matter. It is just a mental form of practice. I think it’s important not to use this method thinking that if I have students visualize mastering this materials, then they will master it.
Application: I use visualization as a “Working Out Loud” facilitator in the activity “Letter from My Future Self.” Participants are asked to picture themselves 12-36 months from now in a future where they have been successful in reaching their Working Out Loud goals. We ask that they try to imagine how they got there. What happened to make them successful? What challenges did they face? How does it feel to have achieved their goal? Using those prompts to picture the future, participants then write a letter as if they were their future selves writing to their present selves. The task is to focus on what they would want to tell their present selves to do to help bring about the successful version of the future.
We give participants the option of using the futureme website at https://www.futureme.org/, which allows them to write the letter online and have it emailed back to them at some date in the future.
Assessment: Free Discussion (Barkley & Major, 2016, pp. 271-276)
After writing our letters, we engage in a free discussion about the process, not the content of the letters. The major focus discuss how participants felt during the process. We discuss what parts were challenging for them and how their feelings during the process might impact their ability to continue their journey toward their successful future.
References
Barkley, E. F., & Major, C. H. (2016). Learning assessment techniques: A handbook for college faculty. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Tate, M. L. (2012). “Sit and Get” won’t grow dendrites: 20 professional learning strategies that engage the adult brain. (2nd Ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.